After taking this course you will be able to:

• Analyze and visualize different water systems and explain their cultural importance and relevance
• Determine the social and cultural attributes and societal value of water heritage over time and across space
• Unpick the interdependencies and conflicting values and interests of the different stakeholders involved in creating water heritage systems
• Navigate barriers caused by value conflicts among stakeholders in proposing solutions to the challenges water heritage and water systems are facing
• Construct an SDG/HUL-based approach to decision-making in water systems for the benefit of all relevant stakeholders

In week 1, learners discover the complexities of water culture in daily life. By identifying different water systems in their own environment, learners will become aware that water is not only a basic need, but also a spatial network and a carrier of meaning, social values, and memories. By recalling their own experiences and memories with water, they will learn how waterscapes influence space, society, and culture.

In week 2, through exploring different historical water systems, learners will assess how societies in the past and present have valued water. They will learn about the spatial imprint of historic water systems, their change over time and their relation to institutional and cultural practices. Learners will be asked to research the history of their own case study waterwork, and its functional and spatial development over time.

In week 3, learners recognize which stakeholders and groups are important in the creation of water systems in the past and in the present. They learn how these stakeholders relate to each other and what shared or conflicting interests they have, then apply this analysis to their own case study.

In week 4, learners discover the challenges that waterworks are facing, as they identify dualities of water and culture, and differentiate between values, needs and interests in water systems. In addition, they learn to distinguish conflicts of values among different stakeholders, across different cultures and institutional levels in contemporary society.

In week 5, learners analyze sustainable solutions and strategies for water systems. They are introduced tothe UNESCO HUL method, as an integrated approach connecting global and local contexts. Learners will also engage with water heritage in line with sustainable developments through examples that implement this approach. Having been inspired by the solutions and approaches, learners will be asked to look into their own local cases for local initiatives.